The Tour de France is coming to Rotterdam! In the weekend of July 3rd and 4th 2010 Rotterdam is the host city of the Grand Départ of the 97th Tour de France.
From 1 to 4 July 2010 Rotterdam will be the proud host of the start of the Tour de France. This is the fifth time that the Netherlands has the honor to host the most spectacular and biggest cycling event in the world. Rotterdam continues the tradition of the Tour’s special starts in London (2007) and Monaco (2009) and is already preparing a spectacular opening.
The countdown to the start of the Tour de France 2010 has started with the Grand Arrivee on 25 March, when famous Tour VIPs arrived in Rotterdam with a specially decorated Thalys train to join the Diner Maillot Jaune. On this day, exactly 100 days before the Grand Départ, the go-ahead for the countdown was given by mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and Christian Prudhomme (Director of the Tour de France). Especially for the Tour de France the city will turn yellow with a yellow Erasmus bridge and a yellow Euromast, that celebrates its 50 year anniversary.
Programme
On July 1st the Rotterdam welcomes the Tour de France teams and their cyclists. On Saturday July 3rd the prologue will take place, which is an individual time-trial. The route is approximately 9 kilometres long and will start and end at Zuidplein on the south bank of Rotterdam and will cross the Erasmus Bridge and the Willems Bridge. > View the route of the prologue
he following day the wearer of the yellow jersey will head the peloton as it sets out on the first stage from the Scheepvaartkwartier to the official starting line on the Erasmusbridge, a superb spot to give a send-off to the Tour competitors. The cyclists will leave the city and head for Voorne-Putten and Goeree-Overflakkee to complete this in Belgium. > View the route of the Tour de France
Side Events
In the Run-up to the historic start of the Tour, all kinds of events will be organized for the people of Rotterdam within the theme “New Energy”. With the main goal: healthy and fit citizens and a healthy city with lower CO2 emissions..
